1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a surgical device for treating hollow organs and, more particularly, to a surgical device suitable for performing circular anastomosis of hollow organs.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Anastomosis is the surgical joining of separate hollow organ sections. The site of the attachment is also sometimes called an anastomosis. Typically, an anastomosis procedure follows surgery in which a diseased or defective section of a hollow organ is removed and the remaining end sections are to be joined. Depending on the desired anastomosis procedure, the sections may be joined by end-to-end, end-to-side or side-to-side organ reconstruction methods.
End-to-end anastomosis is generally performed using surgical staples. The staples are usually left in the patient. In a circular stapled anastomosis procedure, the two ends of the organ sections are joined by means of a stapling instrument which drives a circular array of staples through the organ end sections and simultaneously cores and removes any tissue located interior of the driven circular array of staples to free a tubular passage.
In some applications of a circular anastomosis procedure, an anvil rod having an attached anvil head is mounted to the distal end of a surgical stapling instrument shaft prior to insertion of the instrument into the tissue to be anastomosed. However, in other applications, it is preferable to utilize a detachable anvil rod which may be mounted to the instrument subsequent to positioning of the instrument and the anvil assembly within respective tissue sections. In such instances, the stapling instrument and the anvil assembly are separately delivered to the operative site. Each tissue section is secured to a respective anvil or staple holding component by a purse string suture. The anvil assembly is mounted to the stapling instrument by inserting a mounting portion of the anvil rod within the distal end of the instrument so that a mounting mechanism within the instrument securely engages the rod.
FIG. 1 illustrates a surgical stapling instrument for performing circular anastomosis of hollow organs. Referring to FIG. 1, the stapling device 10 includes a proximal handle assembly 12, an elongated central body portion 14 including a curved elongated outer tube 14a, and a distal head portion 16. Handle assembly 12 includes a stationary handle 18, a firing lever 20, a rotatable approximation knob 22 and an indicator 24. Indicator 24 includes indicia, such as color coding or alpha-numeric labeling, to identify to a surgeon whether the device is approximated and is ready to be fired. Head portion 16 includes a staple holding component (cartridge) 31 and an anvil assembly 30 including an anvil rod 52 with attached anvil head 63. Opposed end portions of tissue to be stapled are clamped between the anvil head 63 and the staple holding component 31. The clamped tissue is stapled by driving one or more staples from the staple holding component 31 so that the ends of the staples pass through the tissue and are deformed by the anvil pockets of anvil head 63.
Methods and devices for forming anastomoses between hollow anatomical structures using magnetic force have been proposed. However, many of the proposed anastomotic couplings are simply too cumbersome and difficult to deliver or deploy.
It would be beneficial to provide a surgical device for performing circular anastomosis of hollow organs utilizing magnetic force that is easy to use and produces a reliable anastomosis, placing the hollow organs in flow communication.